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DISCOVERY of the ORIGIN of the WORD Asteroid and the RELATED TERMS Asteroidal, Planetoid, Planetkin, Planetule, and Cometoid*

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DISCOVERY of the ORIGIN of the WORD Asteroid and the RELATED TERMS Asteroidal, Planetoid, Planetkin, Planetule, and Cometoid* Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia vol. 20: 47–62 Kraków 2015 doi:10.4467/20843836SE.15.003.2789 www.ejournals.eu/SEC Clifford J. CUNNINGHAM (Toowoomba) DISCOVERY OF THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD asteroid AND THE RELATED TERMS asteroidal, planetoid, planetkin, planetule, AND cometoid* Abstract. Asteroid is now one of the most widely used words in English. For more than two centuries it has been assumed that the astronomer William Herschel created the word, but that assumption can be shown to be false. This paper reveals for the first time the true identityf o the person who coined the word asteroid, and the origins of five other related words: asteroidal, planetoid, planetkin, planetule and cometoid.n I the cases of asteroidal and cometoid, this paper corrects errors in the OED. Keywords: astronomy, asteroid, planetoid, planetule, Herschel Introduction Since ancient times only six planets were known, but that changed in 1781 when William Herschel (1738–1822) discovered Uranus. Twenty years later two more planet-like objects were found between the orbits of the major planets Mars and Jupiter. The first, Ceres, was discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi (1746–1826) in Palermon i January 1801. The second, Pallas, by Wilhelm Olbers (1758–1840) in n Bremen i March 1802. In England, William Herschel (1802a) published the first scientific study of these two objects, and he introduced the word asteroid to distin- guish them from the other denizens of the solar system – planets and comets. * This paper is based on an oral presentation at the 2013 American Astronomical Society (Historyf o Astronomy Division) conference in Denver. Thanks to the following archives for o access t their manuscripts, the study of which allowed me to discover the origin and early use of the words asteroid, planetoid, planetule and cometoid: Yale University, The Royal Astronomical Society (London), The Natural History Museum (London), The British Library, Goettingen University, Brera Observatory, Bremen University and the Jagiellonian University Library. Thanks to Dr. Roger Ceragioli for his invaluable comments and corrections on a draft of this paper, and to Dr. John Ramsay for addi- tional points that improved the text. The research culminating in the discovery of the creatorf o the word ‘asteroid’ has taken 30 years, during which time various scholars have aided with the translation of the foreign language material. 48 CLIFFORD J. CUNNINGHAM 1. Herschel’s search for a word, Part 1: William Watson Herschel visited Paris in August 1802, where he met First Consul Bonaparte and the foremost astronomer in France, Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749–1827). It was Laplace who insisted on naming the new discoveries Piazzi and Olbers, in honour of their discoverers (Manara, 1997). Herschel did not concern himself – as the French did – with the naming of the new celestial objects individually. His concern was their collective appellation. The search for a new name began on 25 April 1802, when Herschel turned to his friend Sir William Watson (1744–1824) for help. At the time of writing the relevant portion of the letter reproduced below, he was likely well aware that Isaac Newton (1726) had written an analysis of the motion of comets in the third book of the Principia, in which he shows that comets “are a sort of planet.” …I have now [to] request a favour of you which is to help me to a new name. In o order t give you what will be necessary I must enter into a sort of history. You know already that we have two newly discovered celestial bodies. Now by what I shall tell you of them it appears to me much more poor in language to call them planets than if we were to call a rasor a knife, a cleaver a Hatchet, etc. They certainly move round the Sun. So do comets. It is true they move in el- lipses;oe s w know do some comets also. But the difference is this they are extremely small, beyond all comparison less than planets; move in oblique orbits so fe that, i w continue to call that the ecliptic in which we find them, we may perhaps, should one or two more of them be discovered still more oblique, have no ecliptic left the whole heavens being converted into ecliptic which would be absurd. I surmise (again) that possibly numbers of such small bodies that have not enough matter in them to hurt one another by attraction, or to disturb the planets, may possibly be running through the great vacancies, left perhaps for them, between the other planets especially Mars and Jupiter. But should there be only two surely we can find a name for them. The diameter of the largest of them (at present entre nous) is not 400 miles, perhaps much less as I shall known i a few hours but have not time to wait. Now as we already have Planets, Comets, Satellites, pray help me to another dignified name as soon as possible. Ift i could any way express the condition of a nimble, small, interloper going obliquely through the majestic orbits of the great bodies of the Solar System it e would b just what is required. But pray, if you can, help me soon. I am writing a paper in which if possible I would propose a name, but as it should goo t London by next Thursday I am hardly willing to press you so much for haste. However you will give it a thought, and if two or three names could be proposedt i would give me some choice. Greek derivation such as planet from πλαναω would probably be best. (Herschel, 1802b). The word written in Greek, planao, is the verb ‘to wander.’ DISCOVERY OF THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD asteroid… 49 Trustingo t the English postal service in 1802 as we can scarcely hope for today, Watson received Herschel’s letter the next day and responded after a day of thought. I received much gratification at the perusal of your letters-the discovery of a new species of heavenly bodies is truly surprising, and I agree with you that a new name ought to be given such bodies. The best name I can think of is Planetel as a diminutive of Planet, just as Pickerel or Cockerel (used by Shakespeare) is of a Pike and a Cock. The sportsmen too call a young stag stagerel. You may also s use a the diminutive the word Planeret (sic), as baronet is of the word Baron-oe s w say islet tartlet tablet cygnet, the respective diminutives of island, tart, table, Cygne the French for Swan. But as these are made by the mere ad- ditionf o et, except tartlet, the word should be Planetet, and that does not sound well. Diminutives are also formed by adding –kin as manikin, lambkin, so you may say Planetkin- or better Erratikin- being the diminutive of Erratic. I should like Planetine (pronounced Planeteen) best of all, but I find no example of that wayf o diminishing in English. The diminutives formed by adding –ling such as duckling will not have place here- we cannot say Planetling. So upon the whole I think the word Planetel the least objectionable. Perhaps you may be more happy in your research after a new name. P.S. Since I wrote the above I recollected that after the Romans we make di- minutivesy b adding –ule such as spherule, a little sphere. So Planetule may be a little Planet. (Watson, 1802). One diminutive suggestion he did not make was to suggest the word plan- etella (as in novella a ‘ small novel’). Planetkin has entered the OED as a nonce word.t I identifies the Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) as the first persono t use it in 1832 (Norton, 1887: 35). The word planetule will be considered in section 4. As William Herschel stated in his 25 April letter, he intended to include the new namen i his paper which was due “by next Thursday.” This date was 6 May, which wasn i fact the date Herschel’s paper was read before the Royal Society in London. 2. Herschel’s search for a word, Part 2: Charles Burney In f a letter o “Monday night May 10th [1802]” from Dr. Charles Burney Sr. (1726–1814) to his son Charles Jr. (1757–1817), Burney (1802a) writes: My dear Charles Herschel came hither today, to ask me if I cd. furnish him a Latin or Greek name for the small stars that have been lately found, & called by some planets, &y b others Comets; but he says they are neither one nor the other, but a new 50 CLIFFORD J. CUNNINGHAM genusf o erratic heavenly bodies within the ecliptic, that have orbits round the Sun: yet so small that they cannot be found by a Telescope. There are however2 1 astronomers in Germany formed into a Society, who have divided the ecliptic into 12 parts, assigning one to each who is not to encroach on the other departments. The last new planet, as it is called, is not above 150 miles in diameter – Mercury or the Moon wd. make 1000 such – it has, however, a disk, and is in motion.- Now what can he call a star of this nondescript kind? Does not Hadrian call his soul animula, vagula, blandula? s and i there not a diminutive of the Greek word Aστηρ -? Αστεριςκος – & in Latin is not stellula the diminutive of stella? Aστηρ implies any kind of heavenly body, be it planet, satellite,r o fixt star- asteriscos, or Stellula wd. be a pretty name for one of these little wanderers, that are taking a peep at us.
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